Paper severing and dispensing means



Dec. 29, 1931. HALLQCK 1,838,307

PAPER SEVERING AND DISPENSING MEANS Filed March 24. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I w v. Q a m a.

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Dec. 29, 1931. R HALLQCK 1,838,307

PAPER SEVERING AND DISPENSING MEANS Filed March 24. 1927 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 5 vwembo z 1 h 305F111 flay [fa/[wit Q} N 351 his Gum/140 1 Patented Dec, 29, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE ROBERT LAY HALIDGK, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB '10 SANITARY PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y A CORPORATION OF DELA- PAPER SEVERING AND DISPENSING MEANS- Applloation filed Iaroh 24, 1927. serlal fio. 177,928.

This invention relates to means for severing and dispensing sheetsof paper and kindred material and articles; and particularly to a cabineted device, for forming and dispensing, simultaneously, from a roll of paper, a series of towels or sanitary covers for toilet seats. An object of the invention is to provide a new means of automatically severlng, as by the operation of tearing, strips of papelrl, or like material, from a longer strip or ro Another object is to provide a means for so dispensing such articles that the article is at the same time formed.

Yet a further object isto provide a simple and compact device, economical to manufacture and practically fool-proof in operation,

for automatically forming and dispensing a toilet-seat cover, and also in conjunction with coin-slot mechanism to permit the dispensing of but one article on the introduction of one coin.

Other objects will be apparent as the de-''- scription proceeds.

All these objects are accomplished by the means described in the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation and 111- terior view of the device, attached to a wall; Fig. 2, a front vertical elevation similar to Fig. 1 Fig. 3, a more or less full-size detail view, showing the novel means of severing the material and of holding it firmly while being severed; Fig. 4, a sectional view taken through the plane 4-4: of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a view of the surface of the female roller, developed into a plane; Fig. 6, a fragmentary view of the sheet. of paper, showing where it is severed at each end and also the partially severed hole in the middle, this view also showing, necessarily, the positioning of the severing means on the surface of the male roller, after being developed into one plane.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Attached to a wall 1, is a casing or cabinet 2, in which there is a multiple bearing-frame or support 3.

' Rotatably mounted in the uppermost bearcontinuous strip of paper approximately equal in width to the widest part of an ordinary toilet seat. On a forwardly placed bearing or shaft 6 1s a female roller 7 made, for instance, of metal, or wood. The surface of this roller 7 when developed into one plane, is shown in Fig. 5. It has grooves representing one-half of' the pattern (to be cut from the paper) super-imposed upon the other half. Thus, the groove 8, Figs. 5 and 6, is the part first used to sever the paper as the male member, hereinafter described, enters it. That portion of the hole of the seat cover represented by groove-portion 9 is next out. By that time thls roller 7 has made a complete revolution. The male member then enters the portion of the groove numbered 10, and so continuing around to slot 8, again severe or tears 011' the paper atthe other end, thus forming the complete seat cover.

The lowermost shaft 11 rotatably supports a male roller 12, which is here shown as twice the diameter of its corresponding female roller 7, described above. The developed surface of the severing members of this roll 12 is identical, in position and shape, to the cuts 8, 9, and 10 in the paper illustrated in Fig. 6.

Roller 12 may be solid, or built up struc-.

turally as su gested in Fig. 4. The construction of t e tearing members or knives on its surface is shown clearly in Fig. 3, the members being preferably steel strips 13of L shaped cross-section, their bases secured over the surface of male roller 12, and their projecting edges projecting into the grooves of said roller as shown.

It should be noted that the edges of these severing members 13 need not be sharp; and they need not fit accurately into the grooves 8, 9, and 10 of roller 7. In fact, a reasonably loose fit is desirable, to enable the paper to be severed by a tearing action as distinguished from a shearing action.

A strip of rubber 14, or other yieldable material, parallel to the contour of the knife member 13 is so positioned as to be in advance of its severing edge as the roller 12 revolves. The urpose of this is to hold the paper, or other s eet material shown in Fig. 3 by a dot and dash line, firmly 1n lace while being severed by member 13, as y a partial tearing and artial cutting action.

It will be observed that the pattern of the cuts or tears to be made in the paper is such that each portion of each cut is substantially on a slant, thus permitting the severing of the paper to be made gradually along one or more lines, somewhat like the action of a scissors. Other rubber strips may also be positioned concentrically around the'surface of roller 12, as shown in Fig. 2.

Keyed at one end of shaft 6, Fig. 2, is a gear 15; also a crank handle 16. Meshing with gear 15 is a second gear 17 twice as large, and keyed to the shaft 11 WhlCh rotates the male roller 12. Thus, two complete turns of crank 16 will rotate roller 7 twice, and roller 12 once, and will tear OE and feed from the roll of paper 5 one toilet-seat cover shaped as shown in Fig. 6.

In casing 2 is a coin slot 18, Figs. 1 and 2, into which a coin is introduced. It drops down through passage 19 to operate trigger 20 to release a lock 21 and 22, so that the two rollers and the paper roll may be free to revolve.

The course of the paper sheet through the mechanism is shown by a dot-and-dash line numbered 5, Fig. 1, the toilet-seat cover finally emerging through a slot 23 in the casing 2.

It will be noted in Fig. 6 that the end cuts or tears of the paper, here numbered 8, do not meet, there belng a space 24 where the paper has not been severed. This is accomplished by having the knife blade 13 notched a similar amount, as shown in Fig. 2 by the same numeral 24. Thus, each toilet-seat cover is held to its upper one, and when the crank 16 has been turned twice to completely out and vend one cover, the seat cover hangs down through slot 28 and is held suspended by this small piece of paper which has not been severed. The user then simply takes hold of exposed part of the cover and pulls slightly, tearing off this piece and releasing the cover from the rest of the paper.

Particular attention is directed to the simple operation by this means of severing the paper. N o expensive dies or knives, likely to dull and get out of order, are used. No accurate alignment of the severing members is required to be maintained. Even an inaccurate fit between knife and groove, as shown in Fig. 3, will not prevent the severing action from taking place properly. And only the rubber strips 14 hold the paper firmly in place while it is being severed. Thus the means are new and simple, and a great advance in the art. a

The invention produces a toilet-seat cover of the general nature disclosed in Fig. 6, it being adapted to be cut from a rollof paper automatically at the same time it is vended from the machine and by the same operation of the user. It will be noticed that the hole in the center of the paper is not completely severed, a portion 25 between the ends of the cut or tear remainin untorn. This portion is usually ositioned 1n the front of the toiletseat and t e weight of the partly-torn flap drops down vertically, forming a bend across the portion 25, the lower portion of the flap pro ecting into the water of the toilet. When the toilet is flushed, the suction action of the water is strong enough to automatically carry away the entire toilet-seat cover.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not limited thereto. To those skilled in the'art, many modifications of the invention will be readily apparent, and it will also be obvious to such skilled persons that part of the device maybe used without other parts thereof, many such combinations of the parts readily suggesting themselves. Where the machine is to dispense a paper towel, the flap forming knives are omitted. Therefore, it should be, and is to be distinctly understood that for a definition of the limitations of the invention, reference must be had to the appended claims.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is:

1. Tearing means including a roller mem ber formed with a grooved pattern in its surface, a co-operating roller member with a projecting pattern on its surface corresponding to the grooved pattern of the first member, the two members being mounted on parallel axes and driven in timed relation so that the projecting portion on one roller enters the grooved portion on the other with the material to be torn passing between them, the grooved rolling member being adapted to make more than one revolution to form a complete article and having part of its pattern overlapping upon another part.

2. The combination in a severing device of rollers provided with cooperating severing means, one of said rollers having part of its pattern overlapping upon another part in such manner that complete severing is effected only after more than one revolution thereof.

3. A device for forming and dispensing seat covers from a strip of material comprising a flap-severing means arranged in the design of an unclosed loop, an end severing means to partially sever one seat cover from another, a backing member for the severing means having grooves corresponding to the design of the severing means, and means for frictionally holding the material over said grooves on both the front and rear sides thereof. 7

4. Seat cover forming means including cooperating rolls, male severing means on one said rolls and arranged in such design as to sever a seat cover, the other roll having grooves to receive the male severing means and of a design corresponding to the design of said means, said grooves being of a width comparatively greater than the width of said male severing means, and gripping means associated with one of the rolls and adapted to engage the seat cover material during the severing operation to prevent slippage thereof. 4

5. A device for forming and dispensing paper articles from a roll of paper the width of the articles equaling the width of the pa,- per web, comprising a rotatably mounted, non-continuous end severing means for partially severing an article from the paper web,"

a backing member for the severing means, the backing member being rotatably mounted and having grooves corresponding to the design of the severing means, means for fric-' tionally engaging the paper-in advance of the groove to drawit ofi the supply roll, and means for frictionally holding it over said grooves on both the front and rear. sides thereof.

6. Means for forming a paper article having V shaped ends from a web of paper, including cooperatin rolls, male severing means on one of sald rolls and arranged in such design as to sever from the web an article havin V shaped ends, the other roll having spira 1y extending grooves to receive the male severing means and of a design corresponding to the design of said means, said grooves being of a width comparatively greater than the width of said male severin .meansf, andgrippin means associated. wit

one o the rolls an adapted to en ge the paper at a plurality of points space length.-

wise of the roll and draw it between the rolls. andto prevent slippageduring the severing operation.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 22nd day of March, A. D. 1927 v ROBERT LAY HALLOCIL 

